Plucking For Pluckley

When we woke up today it was gloriously sunny and actually quite warm after the chill and incessant downpours of yesterday.
After a slightly later run than normal we decided we would head for the market town of Faversham but almost a soon as we set off the clouds began to gather rather ominously and it started to absolutely pelt it down. Therefore, we decided to curtail our journey, abandon our original destination and initially chose on stopping at the nearest village of Charing only to find, like on our visits a couple of days ago to the villages of Benenden and Frittenden, that virtually nothing was open (apart from a village shop and a butchers both of which appeared to have no customers) and that the streets were virtually deserted. Without even a public house to shelter from the rain we didn't linger and headed back out to look for a slightly more engaging destination.
We eventually came across a road sign which made us pluck for the village of Pluckley. Praise be it's pub, The Black Horse (which is reputedly one of the most haunted in the country - thankfully we were there in broad daylight!) was open. So feeling slightly downcast by the sodden weather we thought we would cheer ourselves up with a pint and a spot of lunch, which in this instance was some pulled pork tacos. Whilst the welcome wasn't entirely enthusiastic (although a marked improvement on the non-committal barman of a couple of days ago) both the food and our pints were great.
It's a gloriously characterful pub with lots of beams and creaking floorboards and we also got to meet the hostelry's hound - a tiny dachshund who was every amenable to having her chin stroked. Even the gents provided a history lesson - with a photograph on the wall showing the aftermath of the row of the cottages behind the pub being hit by a V1 rocket in 1944.
Just as we left the pub (I couldn't quite capture an image of it I was happy with - but my extra is of the canine based stick bibliotheque right outside the entrance!) there was a very brief glint of sunshine so we took a quick walk around the churchyard, which is where I captured my main image of this touching little bee memorial as it caught a shaft of light.
We'll definitely be plucking for Pluckley again to investigate it further but maybe under less inclement weather conditions.